Bonaparte (pop quiz inside!)

This week was VBS at Bonaparte, located in lovely Van Buren County.

Test your Iowa knowledge: In Van Buren county, you cannot find:
a) a Mennonite general store
b) a place that uses Queen Anne's Lace to make beautiful pottery
c) work by local artists
d) a traffic light

I love Bible school. :)

The correct answer is d) a traffic light. The rest of it and much more makes Van Buren a wonderful place to spend a week.

We had extra time one day, so we made puppets. This looks as good as the real Checkers!

I've been here a few years now, and there are LOTS of kids! 23 on the first day, 36 on the last day- at least 40 different kids came at least one of the days. Also exciting were the 8 high school helpers. They were doing service learning toward the hours they need for graduation, and it was so nice to be able to hand off a camera/computer/puppet/science activity to eager volunteers who were instantly cool to the kids. This church does a very nice job with kids' programs, and they are the site for summer lunches in their community.

Having such a large crowd makes for a very different dynamic compared to a VBS where it's the same 10 kids every day, and both have something to offer. Small, regular groups become a mini-family.  Large groups can too, there's just four times as much running around and jumping and squirming and talking and occasionally kicking the back of the pew. But that makes it all the more remarkable when that energy is harnessed into singing "My God is so Great" or responding to our action words: "God wants us to move, act, care, follow, and share." "LET'S GO!" They also did a nice job participating in our scripture time, helping me create props and acting out the Bible stories. Once the craziness was over on Friday, I was packing up stuff when one of the kids (who had to have been about three) came over. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Packing things up," I replied. "Are you leaving?" she asked with her cute three year old concerned eyes.  I told her I was. "We will miss you!" she offered, at the height of her adorableness. I really will miss them too!

Of course, staying in this neck of the woods means staying with Karen, a former MUMMs board member who is a wonderful hostess and friend. Cherie was doing Montrose this week, so she stayed there too and we all had a fun week. There is such a strong community in Farmington, especially from the church there, that I had already been looking forward to seeing some friends from the last few years. David and Elizabeth now have their own B&B (check it out! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5925861) where we enjoyed some soul-refreshing coffee, conversation, and piano music. Dawn was around to help with VBS at Bonaparte all week long, as that has been added to her list of many churches she serves. :) Anita has an art/pastry shop downtown. There is a cool energy going on there, and it comes from the way that group cares for each other (and everyone else!) with God's love. It's church as it should be!